DC sells Hyundai holding

DaimlerChrysler has split with alliance partner Hyundai as its battered Asian strategy continues to unravel. The troubled car maker currently holds a 10.5 per cent stake in the Korean company, but has announced that it plans to sell its shares, worth an estimated £570m. The move comes just two weeks after DaimlerChrysler refused to bail out ailing partner Mitsubishi, which was seeking extra investment to secure its future. Reports suggest that Hyundai was upset over DC’s plans to align itself with a Beijing-based company, although DC’s official line is that it is ‘realigning its activities to better reflect current business objectives.’

DaimlerChrysler and Hyundai will still work together on an individual project basis – continuing the relationship that began four years ago – but the move leaves DC with a single small plant in China as its sole Asian manufacturing presence.